Lubov
by She-sells-shells
Summary: A story based on the encounter of a character in the manga, a wannabe samurai from russia. Please tell me what you think about it !


Ljubóv

They called him the demon that only killed samurai. And it was in fact the truth; his goal was to become the strongest sword fighter of his time, and to get that title he had to kill a thousand samurai.

His quest had been fairly easy until now; the hardest part had been crossing over the Sea of Japan. He had to sit inside an old barrel, which reeked of old wine, it reminded him of how much he liked the sterilized smell of vodka. He fought whoever was wearing a katana around their waist, and he soon found out that many of them weren't has skilled as he'd once believed. Only two or three had been worthy to fight, but he had still collected nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine swords already. He was getting closer to his goal; he would make the spirits of his grandmother and sensei proud.

He had attracted quite a bit of attention in the last village he had visited, it became easy to find opponents, he just waited on a bridge for whoever dared to try and pass. Little did he know that two brothers were seeking revenge, and a pirate and his two companions were looking for him to repay their debt.

As usual he was calmly watching from the other side of the bridge when he saw three shadows approaching, he could hear them speaking but couldn't make out the words. One of them stepped onto the bridge, facing his friends who were still on the other side, the blond samurai could make out the shape of his katana sheath on his back, and decided it would be his thousandth.

He appeared behind him in a flash, the only things that allowed the man to realize someone was standing behind him were his wide-eyed friends. "So you're the demon?" He said through his teeth. "That sword … give it to me." He answered with a smile, when people called him demon it always made him feel good about himself and his skills.

He wasn't prepared for the quick swish that swung towards his face; his straw hat was thrown off, and if he hadn't jumped out of the way the sword would have cut his face in two. His opponent's eyes followed his movements, challenging him and daring him to fight. This last one would be interesting; he was fast, very fast.

The ivory blond man quickly looked over towards the two friends of the dark haired one, there was another tall samurai with a long midnight coloured ponytail, a good thing he didn't look like he was going to attack, right beside him was a girl with a messy brown ponytail. He saw the surprised look on her face; he didn't know that she was really expecting to meet a demon. Instead she was staring at this man's blue eyes. No threat on that side for him.

"Yours will be my thousandth sword, then I will become the samurai champloo!" He watched their expression carefully, searching their eyes for fear, but they looked confused. "So if you collect a thousand swords then you become that?" asked the pale samurai. "It's Japanese common knowledge" he said a bit annoyed, "No rule like that exists", the other answered, "You're not really Japanese are you?" "N..Niet", escaped from his mouth, " I'm, a..hmm… very Japanese! I'm from the north." By know Jin definitely knew he was a stranger, and decided that the pirate would take care of this, since he'd started it. He was the one who'd made the deal with the owner of the shop on the other side of the bridge, who'd been complaining about the sudden no show of clients, if he got rid of this so called demon, they would have full bellies and that was something they hadn't had in quite a while.

"This talk is stupid", "I agree, come on you bastard". The two men rushed towards each other their swords stretched far in front of them. Meanwhile the two siblings were hiding, and quietly observing the scene from afar. When the swords met the Russian samurai was pushed far behind, "damn this guy is fast and strong". The two realizing these other guys coming after the blond demon were no joke, they had to make up a plan to get rid of them and quick. The one brother whispered something into his younger brother's ear, his eyes nearly popped out, "are you sure?" the other nodded. "And if I fail to destroy him you know what to do, just as we practised" " hay".

The fight was still going on, none of them were tired yet, the swords wielded by two pairs of strong arms banged together innumerous times, "To fight with Mugen on equal terms … What kind of demon is this foreigner?" she said to her friend. Captivated by the battle in front of them, they didn't notice the shadow creeping up from behind. "Don't move! Or I'll slice her throat open." The younger brother's knife had firmly positioned itself over the girl's neck. "Stop right there, stop the fight." Both of them stared at the tall lean man with broad shoulders and dark hair, their clothes still swung in the air because of the recent action, but their bodies were still.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded angrily Mugen, he didn't like to be interrupted in a fight and liked even less the fact that this stupid guy was holding a knife under Fuu's chin.

"Stand down, and move away if you want her back, we're after that guy", Mugen didn't pay attention to the meaningless talk and walked towards the guy, a frown on his face. "Stop it you idiot! Don't move!" She cried out in distress, what the hell was he thinking, her life wasn't his to gamble, couldn't he just listen to the damn guy?

He mumbled something and stood still, she was relieved until she heard a loud voice laughing " hahaha Ichirou and little Jirou right? The brothers who ran straight home crying after I took their swords, yeh I remember you." Ichirou's grip tightened, he was shaking with anger "I'm ready to fight you again" he shouted. The Russian samurai had to calm this stupid guy down, or that girl was going to get injured. Well, not that he should care but her companions didn't look bothered by the situation, he guessed that at least he should try to avoid any unnecessary hurt, Ichirou and Jirou were after him, not her. He answered simply: "In which kind of fight do you hold a woman to shield yourself?" The other pushed her violently over to his brother. Jirou, he had also appeared, he was slightly thinner than his brother, with a slim face, but had the same height and black hair.

Jirou grabbed the girl and the knife that his brother had just thrown over to him. He quickly grabbed both of her wrists, and then let go of them as he secured them between his stomach and her back. His left hand was free to grab her waist and pull her closer, making her unable to move away, while his right hand was keeping her head high with the blade. He was harsher than his brother; she winced as the sharp metal started to dig into her skin, red drops were forming and threatened to run down her neck.

"I had to get rid of these guys, it looked like they were going to kill you before I even had the chance to do it myself." He smirked, "Because of you our mother died, I can no longer work as a respectable samurai since the day you stole my sword, we couldn't find the money to pay for her treatment…" He trailed off, his voice going softer as he stared at some far place in between the pale green leaves of the trees ahead.

"I can't apologize, and there's no way you can beat me sad boy." When the cold answer hit Ichirou, his eyes filled with anger once again as he threw himself towards the blond killer.

"Don't just watch! Stop them" She bravely said, in spite of the knife on her throat. His story reminded her of her own mother and how she too had felt helpless as she watched her fade away. "Won't he kill you if we do that? If we stay still nothing will happen, and if you don't move you won't get hurt. Just keep quiet. You should thank us, for your sake all we can do is sit here and wait." They said. She couldn't believe them, how could they, she was still being held hostage, how could they stay so cool, it was irritating surely they could easily overcome those two guys.

Indeed the charging man was thrown onto the ground in one swift move, and then a knee pressed itself against his back. But he knew what to do if it ended like this, with no hesitation he screamed: " Jirou use it! Now!" Jirou pressed his lips together, "this is it" he thought, he let go of the captive girl and with a flick of his fingers lighted the bomb that appeared out of his kimono. While looking back, he told the three creeps " Run, it ends here, I will be with my parents and brother soo-...!?" His foot caught on a plank that was sticking out of the bridge and it made him trip.

The fool! They couldn't believe their eyes, and neither could he, he dropt it! He dropped the bomb. It exploded as soon as it hit the wooden planks and the bridge flew into a thousand pieces. They all saw the smoke expand and rush towards them; they were thrown backwards and saw no more.

His blue eyes closed instinctively when the cold water surrounded him, and washed him down the river. He woke up on the shore and coughed out the water in his lungs, he was still alive. He looked around and saw a bare foot sticking out from a bush nearby; he just had to check it out, at least see who it was. He got closer and realised it was the poor girl. She laid there, her eyes closed and her wet light brown hair was covering half of her face. She had a long red mark across her neck, and a few bloody strands of hair plastered to her forehead.

He looked left and right, her friends weren't here, well he couldn't leave her here unconscious and soaking wet in the wild, she was a woman after all. He picked her up gently before he threw her over his shoulder, his arms locked around her stomach so she wouldn't slip off, and he brought her to the empty cabin he had been staying in.

He put her down on the hard floor, her limp head fell to the side. He brushed the hair out of her face, he made thin strands out of a spare shirt he had and wrapped them around her bruised head. She was a mess; he should probably get some water and try to clean her up. He lifted himself up, and went to the river again. First he washed his face in the clear water hoping it would also clear his mind a bit, how the hell did this happen? They are all crazy in this country, he thought as he filled a jar.


End file.
